Action

Feature Article

We liked both the Remington R1 Commander, and the Colt Commander XSE O4012XSE in stainless, and we realize many of our readers would be happy with either one. The Remington gave good overall performance and is worth the money. But the more expensive Colt simply performed better. We do not downplay the difference in price. It is significant and the end user must weigh the costs. Arguably, each of the two makers got it right with these Commander handguns, and the consumer must decide.

While the debate continues on about which firearm is the best combat handgun, the 1911 remains in the running, and, according to some, it stays at the top of the heap. The 1911 has many applications including target practice, competition, and self defense, of course.

Simple pride of ownership is never a bad reason to own a handgun, but personal defense remains the defining characteristic of the 1911 handgun. For many, the 1911 represents the best choice for repelling boarders or facing members of the criminal class.

For this task, the pistol has good features, including speed to an accurate first shot that is virtually unequaled, reliability, and accuracy. Also, the 1911 is thin enough for concealed carry. The problem is a full-size guns profile and weight. The 1911 can be concealed effectively with proper holster selection, that isnt the question. The question is the comfort level the individual is willing to accept. For many of us, the steel-frame Commander with its ¾-inch-shorter slide and barrel solves the problem. The Commander pistol is less likely to pinch the bottom when seated, and it is faster from the draw as well. Here's what we found:

Like so many other shooters, our evaluators like the 357 Magnum cartridge for defense as well as the flexibility of lower-recoil and lower-cost training using 38 Special ammunition. To see if we could find a bargain, we wanted to pit two expensive high-capacity snubnose...

There is an old saying that competitors should beware the one who uses one gun, meaning that a shooter who does everything with the same shotgun probably is very familiar with how the firearm handles in a variety of shooting situations.

If we were a rifle maker with a line of AR-15s, we might put up a neon sign outside our establishment that had an image of our carbine with a simple message below: Millions and millions sold. Because while that might not quite be true for an individual makers...

Its not often we get a truly interesting rifle to test. Most are commonplace, and frankly carry little excitement for our test team. Once in a while a surprise comes along, and thats what happened recently. Houston Product Coordination Editor Kevin Winkle sent a...

Editorial

I admit I was miffed when the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) opened a computer case I checked as baggage to Las Vegas for the SHOT Show back in January. The case and contents were a load  a 38-pound Pelican 1730 transport case with a 27-inch iMac in it. I prefer to use a desktop machine to update the Gun Tests Facebook page, YouTube page, website, and new-product files when Im at SHOT for a week. Ive done the jobs with a laptop before, and I admit, its much easier to carry-on a smaller machine. But once its set up, the full-size iMac is heaven while were processing words, photos, and movies for our various media in a hurry.

IDEX is one of the first venues where defense contractors present their wares to worldwide military customers and Beretta felt this was the ideal environment to present the international offering of its APX pistol, said Carlo Ferlito, general manager of Beretta and Beretta Defense Technologies (BDT) vice president.

Firing Line

I was extremely pleased when my issue arrived and on the cover was the comparison of the three new striker offerings I had asked about. All three are quality, but I am extremely happy to have purchased your consensus winner, the VP9. I dont know if you had the options I did. The VP9 choices for me were the three-dot white sights with the photo-luminescent paint that can be charged with a decent high-power flashlight and gain a few minutes of pretty bright night sights, along with two magazines. My FFL put a $560 price on this one. The option I choose was the LE version that came with Meprolight Tru-Dot night sights and three HK magazines for $614. The prices do not reflect the $30 transfer fee mandated by the state of Delaware. So, throw in the background check and my tip to him, and it came out to just about $670 completed. On Meprolites IDF holster site, the sights were $139, and the mag I have seen for as much as $50 to $70. I feel very good about this purchase.